Just Run's Susan Love settles suit over dog attack

A Carmel woman who was seriously injured and saw her puppy killed in a dog attack in 2011 reached a settlement on Thursday with the insurance company representing the dog's owner.

The settlement, for an undisclosed amount of money, was made the day before trial was to begin.

Susan Love, director of the Big Sur International Marathon's Just Run youth program, was walking her Maltese-Yorkshire terrier mix on Canyon Place on March 15, 2011, when three Catahoula dogs escaped the yard of their owner, James Joshua Kelsey, and attacked Love and the puppy. She filed suit in March 2012.

"Ms. Love suffered very serious injuries, significant psychological trauma, and her puppy was killed in front of her," said Love's attorney, Sargis G. Atanous of Monterey's Dunnion Law Firm, in a statement. "Ms. Love will have to live with her injuries forever and will never forget this incident."

Love underwent emergency skin grafts for injuries to her right arm.

She had to drop her dog to save her life during the attack, Atanous said.

"It's just a great relief to know I don't have to go to court and relive every minute of what happened that day," Love said. "Every day since the incident, my mind has gravitated toward the thought that I would have to go through it all again, so to have it all behind me now hopefully will bring some closure. I'm excited to finally be able to move on."

Atanous said the court found ample evidence that Kelsey's dogs lacked training, had a propensity to escape and attack, and had a history of neighbor complaints, including nuisance suits and a voluntary abatement order with Monterey County animal control officials.

Kelsey's dogs were euthanized after the attack.

The timing of the settlement "could not be better for her, both emotionally and spiritually," Atanous said. "She has been through hell the past few years. I admire her stoicism and resolve."

Love hosts an annual 5K event, Run in the Name of Love, set for Sunday in Carmel.

The run is a memorial to her son, Brian, who died in a snowboarding accident in 1995.